You Caught Me Off Guard
by youtubetrash
Summary: A Dan Howell x Reader fiction. You are a college dropout who moves to Iowa to find yourself. Two men who claim to be famous show up at your door one night, saying their cab has broken down and ask for your help. Once they get into your life, everything starts to change. You hear things. You see things. You feel things. And they aren't all bad.
1. White

_**Chapter One: White**_

There was something calming about the sound of rain falling down, hitting windows, bouncing off leaves. The wind shook the trees lightly and (y/n) stood at the window, observing it all. She tightly gripped a mug of warm tea in her hands, and gathered her blanket closer around her. The grayness of the world outside matched the dreariness of the inside of her home.

She'd just moved away from her parents for the first time, after dropping out of college to pursue her music and acting career. She never wished to go into medicine in the first place, but her mother had always wanted to her to take a career path with a promising outlook. But among all the different definitions of body parts and the different allergies and types of surgeries, she lost herself. So she packed up, and moved out to a little town in Iowa, just to find herself.

Her house was mostly bare, the living room holding only a couch, a coffee table, and an old TV that she never really watched. She was alone. She had been for the past few weeks, ever since she moved out. She'd gotten a few calls from her mother since leaving, and a few hellos from the mailman and the man who owned the nearest grocery store, but she mostly found company in the smell of old books and cups of warm beverages.

There wasn't any internet out here, wasn't much need for it. The folks around had everything they needed without turning to cat videos or social media.

(Y/n) missed other people. She missed having a best friend and talking to boys and fighting with her mother.

She set the mug down and went to lay on the couch. She checked her phone. No texts. Not a surprise.

:::

When she woke up, it was dark out, and the curtain to her glass door was still open. She hurriedly got up and shut it, resting her head on her hands as they gripped the curtain. The white curtain. In a white room. Filled with white furniture. White was such a lonely color. There was nothing remotely interesting about it, nothing you could do with it. You always had to be careful of making messes.

White.

A few tears fell and the white curtain had gray streaks down it.

There was a knock on the door. (Y/n) looked at the time. _9:23_. She wiped her tears and went to peep out the window to the front door.

There were two men there. They didn't look threatening, more awkward than anything. She could make out a few features in the light of her porch lamp. They were both pale, one with black hair and one with brown hair.

She opened the door a crack. "Can I help you?"

"Our taxi broke down just up the road a little, and we don't get cell service out here, is there any way you could let us call for help?" The one with the black hair asked.

(Y/n) remained silent. She was not comfortable letting two strange men into her house in the middle of nowhere at this time of night.

Sensing her uneasiness, the one with brown hair said, "Or if you'd be more comfortable calling someone while we wait out here, that would be okay too."

(Y/n) opened the door. "You can come in," she said quietly. "I apologize for the state of my house. The living room is just around the corner, you can sit in there."

As they walked in, she noticed they towered over her, standing at least over six feet. Judging by the state of their clothes, they had broken down further than a little down the road. She hurried to the closet in her hallway and got them towels. She handed them to the men and offered them something to drink.

"Coffee," The one with black hair said. "Black."

"Tea," the brunette replied. "Milk and sugar, please."

(Y/n) went to heat up the Keurig and then retreated to her room, where she pulled some of her dad's old clothes out of a drawer. She brought them back to the men and told them where the bathroom was. Then, she made her way back to the kitchen and placed a normal coffee cup into the Keurig and pressed the largest setting.

There were footsteps behind her, and she turned around. The man with brown hair was standing there, rubbing his hair with the now soaked towel.

"That towel is soaked now, let me get you another one," She avoided eye contact and started to walk towards the closet again.

"No," he said. "It's alright. I'm done with it anyway. Where should I put it?"

"Oh, just leave it on the floor then."

He hesitated for a moment and dropped it on the floor, making sure to drop it on the tile, not the carpet. This was the first time (y/n) actually got a good look at him. He was very tall, almost a foot above her. His hair was still damp and curled loosely around his head. His eyes were dark and his skin pale, providing a perfect contrast. The two were British, that was easy to tell by their accents. She couldn't help but wonder what they were doing in Iowa.

"I'm Dan, by the way," he chimed in, after noticing her staring at him. He had taken the time to look at her too. She was average height, with her (hair color) hair pulled up into a sloppy bun. There was a slight trace of makeup on her face, and her lips were naturally pink and very soft-looking. The nail polish on her fingers was chipped, and if she picked at it, it would probably be gone in a day or two. "We can't thank you enough for letting us come in. I'm sorry if we caused you any alarm. I can promise you, we're quite harmless. The most damage will cause is tripping and knocking something over."

(Y/n) smiled slightly at this. They hadn't hurt her, and some of the feeling of worry was starting to retreat. But who knew how long they were planning on staying, and as the night grew later, it brought new feelings of fear.

The black haired man came out and dropped his towel on top of Dan's. They were about the same height, but this one was even paler.

"I'm (y/n)," she avoided eye contact and turned to grab the cup of coffee out of the machine, and replaced the now empty coffee cup with a tea cup. The black haired man took the coffee and took a sip.

"I'm Phil," he said. "Thank you for the coffee. It was chilly out there."

"I'll get you two some blankets," (y/n) said. "Just sit on the couch and make yourselves at home. The TV is old but it works. I'm not sure what stations it has, but it's something to use as background noise." She grabbed some blankets from her room as she spoke and brought them back out to Dan and Phil. It hadn't even occurred to her that they were cold. But they had come in soaked to the bone, so it only made sense. It was only April, it was still cold out.

"So do you live here alone?" Phil asked, following her with his eyes as she set the blankets down on the coffee table and proceeded to pull herself a chair in from the kitchen.

"No!" Dan exclaimed. "You sit on the couch! I can sit in the chair." He got up and offered her his seat.

"Nonsense," she said. "You are my guests. Stay on the couch."

Dan sat back down, an awkward look in his eyes.

"It's just me out here," she replied to Phil. "Unless you count the mailman that comes by everyday." The Keurig beeped and she went to go get Dan's tea, adding the milk and sugar.

"Doesn't it get lonely?" He asked.

"Of course it does," she said as she lit a candle and cut out the kitchen light. "But I can't do much about it."

"Why are you all alone?" Dan asked.

"Dropped out of college. I came out here to find myself." She handed him his tea. "But tell me about you two."

"We're YouTubers," Phil told her.

"You're what?"

"YouTubers."

"What's that?"

"We make videos and put them on YouTube for a living."

"So are you like, famous?" (y/n) inquired.

"I guess you could say that," Dan cut in, chuckling. "You can probably tell we're from England."

"So what are you doing out in Iowa?" She raised an eyebrow.

"We're touring all the states meeting our fans. Our taxi was taking us to our hotel and it ran out of gas." Dan sipped his tea. "Or so the driver told us."

"I have a feeling he wasn't a real taxi driver and just abandoned us out here," Phil said, picking up one of the softest blankets and wrapping it around his shoulders.

"So you're stuck out here?" (Y/n) picked up a blanket as well, one of the less soft ones. "Dan, take a blanket."

"Unless you can get us a taxi tonight," Phil said. "We're sorry to put this on you."

"It's okay, I don't mind helping out," she smiled. "But you won't get a taxi out here this late. You might as well just stay the night. We'll see what we can do tomorrow."

"Are you really okay with us staying here?" Dan asked with a half smile.

"If you were crazy murderers, you probably would've killed me by now," she said. "And if you are crazy murderers, you know where I live so there's really no stopping it now."

The two laughed at this. It felt good to talk to people for a change.

"I'll set up a place to sleep in my room for you two and I'll take the couch," she said, getting up to make a makeshift bed on the floor of her room.

"I can take the couch," Dan offered. "We can just sleep out here."

"I'm not going to accept your kindnesses," (y/n) smiled softly. "You're my guests. I'm going to treat you as such."

They gave in and argued over who was getting the bed.

Phil won in the end.

In his celebration, he knocked over his coffee. A brown stain spread across the white carpet.

And suddenly, (y/n) felt that her white world was about to become a lot less white.


	2. Black

_**Chapter Two: Black**_

(Y/n) laid on the couch in her living room. She could hear the boys shift around every so often, but other than that, it was silent. She couldn't sleep well knowing there was a strange man in her bed and on her floor. Who knew what they were capable of? Why did she agree to let them stay here? There was nothing safe about this and she knew it. Perhaps she was just so desperate for human contact that she'd even put herself in danger.

At that moment, the room to her bedroom opened and someone stepped out. She closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep as footsteps shuffled past her and into the kitchen. Someone pulled a chair out and sat down. She sat up and crept around the corner to find Dan sitting at her kitchen table. "Are you okay?" She asked.

He jumped at the sound of her voice. "Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm fine. Just couldn't really sleep on the floor. It hurt my back."

"I'm sorry," (y/n) frowned. "You can take the couch if you'd like."

"No, it's okay," said Dan. "I wouldn't get much sleep anyway."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Just wouldn't."

She didn't want to pry and offered him something to eat. "I don't have much. I was planning on going grocery shopping tomorrow."

"Just some toast," he said. "If you have the stuff to make that."

"I should."

They sat in silence and (y/n) popped two pieces of bread in her toaster. "Do you want sugar and cinnamon on it?"

"Is that good?"

"Very."

"Then yes."

She got out the butter, cinnamon, and sugar. When the toast popped up, they both jumped. Then giggled. She spread the butter onto the bread and watched it melt, disappearing into the darkened crust. After she sprinkled on the cinnamon and sugar, she handed it to him. "Are you sure that's all you want?"

Before he could answer, the lights started to flicker.

"Don't worry," she said. "It happens all the time. Probably just a squirrel on the line."

Dan bit into his toast, finishing in what seemed like three bites.

"Tell me more about this YouTube thing," she commanded. "What exactly do you do?"

"I record videos about things," he explained. "Whether I'm telling a story or talking about a topic or answering my fans' questions. People generally find it like watching a show in which you can connect with the main character."

"Sounds interesting," she said. "I'd check it out but I don't get internet out here."

"I dropped out of college too," he blurted out.

"What?"

"I was studying law," he expanded. "I hated it."

"I was studying medicine." She picked up Dan's empty plate. "I wasn't meant to be a nurse. My real passion is musical theatre."

"Why would you move out to Iowa if you're looking to do musical theatre?"

"I'm working on finding myself before I jump into city life again."

"I see." Dan could tell she was getting tired. "Do you want to go to sleep?"

"No, I'm okay."

"You should really get some sleep," he insisted. "Don't force yourself to stay away just to keep me company."

"I'm not," she said. "I couldn't sleep either."

"Why?"

"Just couldn't."

They sat in an awkward silence, the world outside still painted black with night. One good thing about not living in the city was the stars. They were so visible out here, there were no other lights around her house except the ones that came out her windows.

"I want to show you something," she stood up and walked to the door. They walked out and the cold bit them. (Y/n) wrapped her arms tight around herself and looked up at the sky. She raised her arm and pointed up. "You don't get to see the stars in the city. I know because I've been there and done that."

"I've seen stars," Dan smirked, then looked up. "But not like this. They're beautiful."

Her arms traced out a shape and Dan turned to look. "See that?"

"See what?"

"Those stars," she clarified.

"There's a lot of stars, (y/n)."

She grabbed his hand and pointed it up to trace a shape. " _Those_ stars."

"What about them?"

"That's Sagittarius."

"I thought Sagittarius was a zodiac sign?"

"That's what the zodiac is, Dan," she explained. "Astrology has to do with the stars and their alignment. There's a connstellation for every zodiac sign."

"Can you point out Gemini then?" he asked, a big smile glowing on his face.

"You can't see Gemini from Iowa," she shrugged and shook her head. "Are you a Gemini?"

"Yeah," he replied. "What are you?"

"I'm a Libra. Don't feel bad, my sign isn't up there either."

"You're cold," he said, noticing how she was rubbing up and down her arms.

"I'm used to it, it's okay."

"No we can go back in."

And with that, they went back inside. Phil was awake and in the kitchen.

"What are you doing up?" Dan asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Phil said, his eyes quickly darting to (y/n), then back to Dan.

"It's a bit hard to sleep on the floor," Dan crossed the room and stood beside Phil. "She just happened to be awake as well."

The lights flickered again.

"Just put a tie on the doorknob if you want me to leave." Phil winked.

"Aw, man," Dan turned bright red and sighed. "It's not like that."

"I'm not quite sure about that," Phil smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Where do you keep your coffee?"

"In that drawer over there." (Y/n) gestured with her head.

Phil crossed the kitchen and opened the drawer. "Sick!" He screamed and slammed it shut.

"What?" Dan asked.

"What's wrong?" She asked, and hurried over. She yanked open the door and three cockroaches came running out. (Y/n) screamed and backed away, running into Phil. He caught her and steadied her on her feet. "I'm so sorry," she said, shaking her head and grabbing a shoe off the floor. "I promise my house is clean. They just get in sometimes." With that, she brought the shoe down with a force to challenge that of a tornado and crushed one of the bugs. "I'll go out and get more coffee in the morning."

"No, it's okay," Phil insisted. "We'll be leaving in the morning anyway."

(Y/n) paused at the thought of them leaving. Her heart sunk a little. "Okay, if you say so." She killed the other two roaches and cleaned up their remains with a paper towel. "You two should really try and get some sleep. You probably have a long day ahead of you in the morning."

Phil yawned, as if on cue. "Alright, (y/n). Sleep well. You coming, Dan?" He glanced back over his shoulder as he walked back to her room.

"I'll be there in a sec."

"Dan, go to sleep," (y/n) insisted.

"I will soon," he said. "I like talking to you."

"We can talk in the morning," she kept trying to get him to leave her alone without having to be rude.

Dan was silent for a moment and then gave in. "Goodnight," he said. "Thank you for letting us stay here."

"You're welcome."

Dan walked away.

And then she was alone again, in her dark house, no friend but the sound of the wind outside and the light sound of tapping that was probably coming from a tree branch against the side of the house. She sat at the table and put her head in her hands, letting out a deep sigh. She didn't know what was wrong with her. It didn't matter that they were leaving tomorrow. There was just something wrong. She felt it in her stomach, her heart, all the way down to the tip of her toes. She let her head fall down onto the table and sighed again.

There was a crash from the back of the house.

"Dan?" She called out. "Phil?"

Standing up, she grabbed a large knife from the counter and held it behind her back. She started walking slowly and pushed her hair behind her ear. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears and she could feel her breathing start to get labored. With every step, her heart pounded louder.

 _Step._

 _Pound._

 _Step._

 _Pound._

 _Crash._

(Y/n) jumped as the sound happened again. She gripped the knife tighter and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Lightning flashed outside and soon after a clap of thunder roared in the distance. She took a few more tentative steps before the power went out completely. "Dan! Phil!" She screamed.

Footsteps pounded as the two men ran to her. "What's wrong? What happened?" Phil worriedly asked.

"Th-there was a-a sound," (y/n) stuttered, and pointed to the back of the house. "B-back there."

Dan ran back and quickly checked, then returned to them. "There's nothing back there, (y/n). It was probably just an animal outside." He put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "But if it would make you feel better, I can go outside and check."

"Don't," she said. It wasn't that big of a deal, and if it was, she didn't want him getting hurt. "Can you two just come sit in the living room with me for a while? I can put on some TV."

"Of course." Phil smiled.

The three made their way out to the living room and took their places on the couch. (Y/n) grabbed the remote and cut on some random sitcom, just wanting something to listen to besides the sound of the rain and thunder outside.

Phil stretched out his arms along the back of the couch, putting one behind (y/n) and one behind Dan. He yawned and (y/n) knew he was tired. She felt bad for waking them up, especially since she was the one who told them to go to sleep.

A laugh track played on the TV and another clap of thunder rolled.

Lightning flashed and illuminated the man standing in her glass door.


	3. Coniunctum Somnia

_**Chapter Three**_

That wasn't right. It couldn't be. She had just seen it out of the corner of her eye, but it had been so distinct. Her heart stopped as she stole another glance with a second flash of lightning. Nothing. The glass was as empty as it had been this morning, save for a few rain drops that had splattered against it and were racing to the bottom. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she turned her head back to the television, and focused her eyes on the brightly lit screen.

Then it occurred to her.

How was the TV on if the power was out?

(Y/N) didn't dare to move, but moved her eyes ever so slightly to the side to take a look at Phil.

He stared at her, eyes blank, expressionless. His mouth was ajar, almost like he was unconscious. She pretended not to notice.

She stole a glance at Dan, the same grim expression was etched across his face, lifeless and dark.

(Y/N) shifted her gaze back to the screen, the end credits of the show rolling up.

 _Cornix mortis omen._

 _Cadentes omnes cinis cineris._

 _Pereas._

 _Surgit._

The phrases repeated on the black screen.

She sat bolt upright. The world was quiet. The curtains were drawn. She could see the sun just starting to rise out of her kitchen window. She raised a hand to her chest and could feel her heart beating at a million miles an hour.

 _Only a dream,_ she told herself.

(Y/N) moved the blankets off her and pressed her feet into the soft carpet, relishing in the texture between her perfectly painted toes. She tip toed down the small hallway to her door, and opened it a little to check on the boys. They slept soundly, Dan on the floor, Phil in the bed. A small smile danced across her lips. She shut the door quietly and crept up to the kitchen, checking her freezer for any morsel of food she could feed them. Nothing. She turned around and looked for her car keys on the table, and her heart dropped. A plate covered in breadcrumbs was still sitting there.

She grabbed her keys and hurried out the door, determined to get the fuck away from that house.

[|][|][|]

He woke up with a start, and sat up. The room was white, white, white. Nothing but white everywhere he looked. It was only dawn outside, the rising sun dousing the clouds with hues of pinks and purples and oranges. He held his hand up to his face; it was shaking violently.

What was that dream?

He must've woken his friend up, because he heard a groggy, "Phil? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dan. Go back to sleep."

"Not after the freak dream I just had, mate."

What?

[|][|][|]

(Y/N) strolled through the aisles of her local supermarket, Jack and Jill. Her knees were still weak from this morning's excitement, but she was glad to be out getting her mind off of it. The store was empty, so she didn't have to worry about her day dreams being interrupted by some meddling customers or annoying salespeople. She could just enjoy herself and her alone time. She picked up a carton of eggs, some dark roast coffee, and a box of pancake mix before going to look at the stand that housed flowers. She could use a few to lighten up the blandness of her white home.

White.

She pulled over a cart and picked up two bouquets of roses, one red and one pink. Then, against her better judgment, picked up a batch of colorful mixed flowers for the guys to take with them.

She decided it was time to do her normal grocery shopping. Chips, pickles, milk, cheese, cold cuts, steaks, vegetables, fruits, TV dinners, a dozen cupcakes, green tea, earl grey tea, black tea, chamomile tea. White tea.

She stopped as she read the words.

She was just being paranoid now.

Sugar, flour, a bottle of wine, a chocolate cake, raw fish, shrimp, chicken.

She lazily made her way up to the cash register and began to unload her cart. Once she was done, and the conveyer belt still hadn't moved, she noticed that there was no one there. "Hello?" She called out, receiving no reply.

She left fifty bucks on the counter and left.

[|][|][|]

The guys had been searching for (Y/N) for the last half hour, concerned after having discussed their dreams and finding them exactly the same. Dan had noticed the plate on the table, but didn't say anything.

They had been watching TV with her, sat on the couch. It was dark and storming outside, and when lightning flashed, they saw a man outside the sliding glass door. Dan looked at Phil, and noticed he was staring right back at him. Then noticed the man behind Phil. Phil noticed the man behind Dan. When (Y/N) had screamed, they woke up.

Both turned their attention to the door when they heard a key start fiddling with the lock. They ran over, and nearly collided with (Y/N) as she walked through the door. She looked startled, but didn't say anything, simply walked between them and set a plastic bag full of food on the counter, then grabbed a knife from the holder on the counter. She pointed it at them.

The two stumbled back and grabbed onto each other for support.

"Fucking talk," she said calmly.

"What are you-"

"Don't you dare fucking question me. What the fuck is going on?" Her voice shook slightly and you could see the tremors in her hand.

"(Y/N), we really don't know what you're talking about." Dan backed behind a chair and attempted to shield himself, pulling his friend closer in an attempt to protect him too.

"Explain the fucking plate then, Dan!" She motioned to the plate with her knife. "How the fuck did the plate get there if it was just a dream?"

Dan's heart stopped. Phil looked at him in confusion.

"She had the dream too, Phil."

"What?" Phil asked.

"She had the dream!" He said more confidently. "Look at her! She's as terrified as we were!" Dan took a step toward her, and (Y/N) pushed the knife out even further.

"Not one more step until you start talking."

"How am I supposed to talk when I don't even know what's going on?" Dan asked, taking another step.

Her expression softened, just for a moment, before returning to the stone cold visage.

"You had a dream," Dan started, sighing. "I think. We were looking at the stars, right? Then Phil came in. Cockroaches. We went to bed. You screamed for us. We sat and watched TV. There was a man outside. I looked and saw a man behind Phil. Phil saw a man behind me. But what did you see?"

"I just saw you two looking at me like you were insane or wanted to kill me or something."

"We were looking behind you."

(Y/N) put down the knife and sank to the floor. "Why do I believe you?" She asked, starting to cry.

"Because he's telling the truth," Phil stated, moving beside her and squatting down. "If you want us to leave right now, we will. But if you ask us to stay, we'll also do that."

(Y/N) looked up at them, eyes darting from Phil to Dan, then back to Phil. She wiped her face and said, "I want you two to leave."

And without another word, they walked out the door.


End file.
